Chapter 89 – Sending You In

Four dresses.

Four completely different styles.

At this very moment, Jiang Ning was on the verge of losing it. She seriously wanted to drag those four girls out and execute them on the spot.

No wonder they each made her swear she could only open the gifts once she got home.

So that’s what this was about.

Heh heh heh heh…

Jiang Ning stared at the four dresses in front of her, completely thrown off and furious.

It took her a long while to finally get her emotions under control.

Then she moved on to open the other gifts.

First up was Yao Yao’s.

The box wasn’t big. Judging from the packaging, it looked like some sort of skincare product.

Clearly, this soft girl took skincare seriously.

Next was Hu Gugu’s gift.

Oh.

An NDSL handheld gaming console.

Very much in line with his personality.

Then came Li Mingwei’s gift.

She opened it to find a pair of sneakers.

Size 37. Perfect fit, and the color wasn’t bad either.

But for some reason, Jiang Ning couldn’t help but feel like the gift was… hot.

Not hot in a good way—hot in a burning feet kind of way.

Then it was Xia Zhi’s turn. She opened it and—

Wow.

A Spalding basketball.

High-end stuff.

Too bad there’s no one to play with her anymore.

Finally, Jiang Ning opened Tao Tao’s gift.

She peeked inside—

Huh?

A Walkman?

And it was a Sony too.

Wait a minute—why’s there a cassette tape inside?

Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow, dug out two batteries from her drawer, and popped them in.

Then she put on the headphones.

A man’s voice came through—he was singing the birthday song.

Tsk. His singing was average at best.

Not exactly pleasant to the ears.

She barely got through two lines before she switched it off, not even bothering to see if there was more.

At that moment—

Her mother’s voice came from outside the door.

“Ningning, come out and have some cake.”

“Okay, coming!”

Five minutes later, Jiang Ning was sitting at the table in her pajamas, staring at a bowl of longevity noodles and a small birthday cake.

This cake-and-noodles combo—

She’d had it in her previous life, too.

Every year on her birthday, no matter how big or small the occasion, her mom would prepare this before bed.

She’d thought that maybe in this life, things would be different.

But nope.

Jiang Ning silently smiled, blew out the little candle on the cake in front of her mother, and then began eating.

As she ate, something popped into her mind, and she asked, confused:

“Mom, what’s going on with his business?”

Hearing this, Tian Cuilan’s smile froze. For a long time, she didn’t know what to say.

Jiang Ning immediately sensed something was off.

She looked up, face calm, and stared at her mother.

“You’re still doing it?”

Her mom didn’t answer. She just tried to change the subject with a strained smile:

“Ningning, what gifts did your classmates give you today?”

“I heard Grandma Yan from next door say you came back carrying a huge bag of stuff, is that—”

Halfway through the sentence, Tian Cuilan stopped.

Because she realized—

Her daughter’s gaze was making her nervous.

Unreasonably guilty.

She couldn’t even meet her eyes.

“Mom…”

Just that one word made Tian Cuilan go silent.

After a long silence, she suddenly asked softly:

“Ningning… is it possible…”

“That business… what if it’s real?”

Jiang Ning suddenly felt a chill crawl up her spine.

She remembered very clearly—her mother had never been the kind to be easily persuaded.

Why was she wavering now?

“How so?” Jiang Ning asked, forcing down her anger.

And her mom’s answer just made her want to laugh.

“Mom. The monthly returns—they don’t even come close to the principal, do they?”

“How long would it take him to return all the money?”

“Are you sure that company will last that long?”

“What if they run off?”

“You’re eyeing the interest—but they’re after your principal. Don’t you get it?!”

A barrage of questions from her daughter left Tian Cuilan stunned.

She wasn’t highly educated, and her understanding of things wasn’t deep.

After being taken to a few of those so-called “seminars,” and getting riled up by some manipulative speeches, she had started to waver.

But now, faced with her daughter’s relentless questioning—

Tian Cuilan began to wonder if she really had stopped thinking straight.

She was completely speechless for a moment.

Then Jiang Ning continued:

“Mom, did you already invest money in it?”

“No,” Tian Cuilan answered quickly. When it came to money, she was still pretty tight-fisted.

Hearing that, Jiang Ning felt a small sense of relief.

But—

At this rate, if no one stepped in, her mom would definitely get dragged into that mess sooner or later.

Thinking that, Jiang Ning even started to consider whether they should move to another city altogether.

At least then, her mom could cut ties with that thing.

But even that wasn’t a guaranteed solution.

Even if she brought her mom away from Jiangzhou, that thing might still come looking if it really wanted to.

So—

She needed a once-and-for-all solution.

After a moment of deep thought, something flashed across Jiang Ning’s eyes.

The next second, her expression softened.

“Mom, I heard the incense at Bodhisattva Mountain is really effective. Since we’ve got the New Year’s holiday coming up, why don’t we go offer some prayers?”

———

Half an hour later.

Back in her room.

Jiang Ning sat on her bed, hugging her blanket, leaning against the headboard in silence.

Then suddenly—

She reached under her pillow and pulled out her phone.

Found a number, typed out a message, and sent it.

Moments later, her phone rang.

Jiang Ning looked at the caller ID.

Paused, took a deep breath, and eventually picked up.

“…Hello.”

“Hello, this is Yao Yao’s father—Yao Qirong. You said you know the whereabouts of Chen Tianhong’s assets?”

“How can you prove it?”

On the other end, Yao Qirong’s voice was deep and calm—completely different from Yao Yao’s gentle tone.

It was like the difference between a tiger and a rabbit.

But Jiang Ning didn’t pay any attention to the cold tone on the phone. She simply spat out an address and hung up.

Chen Tianhong.

A well-known local entrepreneur in Jiangzhou.

He had been entrenched in Jiangzhou for many years, with tangled connections in both legal and illegal circles.

As for why Yao Yao’s father was so tense about this man—

The primary reason was that the whole headhunting-style pyramid scheme had actually been learned and initiated by Chen Tianhong himself.

Then, leveraging his connections, he had cashed out billions.

If it weren’t for an unexpected incident, this so-called successful entrepreneur would’ve already been enjoying retirement overseas.

In her past life, Jiang Ning had only found out about all this through a televised interview special.

And what she was doing now—

Was exposing this “entrepreneur’s” hideout to the inspection bureau in advance.

As part of the deal—

Chen Zhenguo, that guy, had to go in too, downgraded to a small-time figure, and sit in prison for a few years.

Sure, exposing things ahead of time might mean the big fish served fewer years.

But to Jiang Ning—

As long as her family stayed safe, that trade was worth it.

That said—

Jiang Ning still had a lingering worry.

Originally, after reincarnating into this world, she had planned to follow her past life’s trajectory as closely as possible.

She avoided interfering in major events, out of fear that she might trigger unforeseen variables she couldn’t control.

But now—For some reason, that guy had gotten himself involved in 1040-style scams.

And those, in some cases, were even more destructive than gambling.

If her mom got dragged into this mess too—Then what would she do?

What would happen to this family?

So—

For the sake of her mom,

For the sake of this family,

For the sake of her own future—Chen Zhenguo, you’re going in.

—

(End of Chapter)

——————

—1040-style scams are illegal pyramid schemes disguised as investment or tax-related opportunities. They falsely claim ties to IRS Form 1040 or government programs. You’re asked to pay a fee, recruit others, and promised huge returns—but there’s no real product. It’s all about bringing in more people. These scams are unsustainable and often collapse, leaving most participants with losses.